6-Week Instagram Detox! How I Plan to Use IG for Biz.

Hey friend!

Welp. It’s been 6 weeks since my Instagram detox started. I did 30 days full out – ZERO Instagram presence. And the last two weeks I’ve been on for a total of about 30 minutes. Lol. And, those 30 minutes were, to be honest… triggering and high anxiety for me.

I am still discerning through what God wants me to do in the future. If I am called to lay it down and delete IG completely, or if God wants me to have a business presence there to lead others.

He always provides a clear path, so stay tuned.

For now, I have decided to stop using it for personal reasons and only share my podcast episodes. My team has taken over my account 100% and I am not planning on re-installing the app on my phone at this time. It’s super freeing. LIBERATING! I love that my business grew, my podcast grew, and my list grew – all without SOCIAL. Yes and Amen.

My friend Ellie Conklin said to me today, “I refuse to be addicted, blind, bound in shackles, and worshiping a smartphone. I repent!” My sentiments EXACTLY. I am working through how I feel about sharing my stuff there as I discern though if that actually HELPS my Lola, or if it hurts her…

Anyway, I will continue to keep you updated!

Enjoy. Email me your thoughts at support@stefaniegass.com, love to hear them.

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00):
Hey, sys! Happy Friday! Are you sick of me yet? Can you believe I have another episode right now? I just have to say, not being on Instagram really opens you up for using your time more wisely and using it in ways that actually build your business. It’s just amazing. So why I’m hanging out with y’all on a Friday, happy Friday, by the way. And oh my goodness, who’s ready for a weekend? Arms up! Ready for weekend?

(00:26):
Is to share with you how I’m going to be using Instagram in the future and kind of what my game plan is with Instagram. I know you guys have been following along on my journey. I did a complete 30 day Instagram detox. If you missed that whole thing, when I was going through that, I think it would be so awesome for you to dig in and listen to that because it was so surreal.

(00:52):
Like the transformation that happened, the revelation that happened, God’s miracles. It all starts with episode 320, which is all about why I’m deleting it. And then every Friday afterwards, I did an update. So go back to episode 320 and check that out if you’re just hanging out with me today for the first time, wondering what I’m talking about.

(01:13):
So I did a full-out Instagram detox, and it was just incredible. Like the amount of time that I saved off of my phone by week four, my phone usage was down roughly 40%, guys. And that’s a tactical number, cause you can actually go into your settings and you can take a look. If you scroll down into your screen time in the settings, click on that. And then you click see all activity. It will tell you what your usage is and how your usage looks compared to the prior week.

(01:45):
So like right now, today, it says I’m down 7% from last week. Well, the week before that I was down 15% the week before that I was down like 20%, something like that. So like literally I’m down 40% of just even touching my phone, which is incredible. You can also click on in your settings when you go into screen time, click on screen time, and then you actually click on, see all activity and then it will show you where you’re spending your time.

(02:13):
So this week, so far Voxer is my number one. Safari is my number two. And then messages is my number three. Like again, I’m talking to people, I love. And no one is in my Voxer that is not a dear friend of mine. You know, no one is in my messages that’s a dear friend of mine. I would like to cut down on that safari time even more, it’s about an hour a day at this point, you know, that’s just me like looking things up or, you know, whatever.

(02:43):
So that definitely could get cut down, but I still feel so good about that, like 40%? Anyway, so it accomplished what it set out to accomplish. Here’s the other cool things like I had mentioned last Friday when I gave you guys the update is that business all around was up, podcast downloads were up, the list was up, revenue held, but the payment plans grew so overall the revenue was up because those payment plans are a delayed ROI, right?

(03:08):
So everything was up without it. Now I thought about not coming back at all, completely just nixing my presence altogether on Instagram. I thought about that. I sat on that, really did some prayer work on that. And I didn’t quite feel right about that because I also felt like not having a presence there was, me not doing anything to help people from not being there.

(03:37):
You know, like there are women there who maybe God’s leading them to me to help them get off of Instagram or help them to at least have boundaries in their social media. So I didn’t feel right about completely deleting. I don’t know what God will do in the future.

(03:50):
And like one thing that I know for sure is when God says do I will do, and I told God, I’m like, if you want me to just fully lay it down and delete it completely like I’m so down, like just let me know, I’m here for it. Anyway. So what I decided I got in, obviously this week was my flash sale as you guys know. I got in on Monday and Tuesday, cause I was posting the flash sale, screen shares or in the stories.

(04:18):
And within five minutes, I am not kidding you, I was already touching the app again. And I was like, how on earth is this even a thing right now? Does Instagram have this weird, creepy voodoo control over me that I have to click this app? I don’t even care why I’m clicking it. I’m not going in there. Like, who messaged me? It’s like it takes control of my fingers. I’m like I can’t help it.

(04:49):
So I immediately deleted it every day after I had posted the stories, I deleted it. And I got with Lydia, got with my team and I was like, guys, look like, we’re just going to use bids. We’re going to use Instagram as a business tool from now on because I legit can’t be in there. Like I just cannot.

(05:07):
And so what I’ve decided to do going forward is when I create all of my podcast promotion stuff, I’m just having one more task for my team, which is to come share a feed picture and a graphic and use hashtags because we’ve gotten away from hashtags and hashtags are a relevant business tool.

(05:27):
So we’re doing that. And that’s the team, not me. And then the team is also commenting back to everyone in the post. Which is really great because when you have that bandwidth, I think that’s something you can consider adding back into your promotion toolkit, but literally like how do you not do that yourself, guys? And you can be super resourceful. People will intern for you for free.

(05:50):
There are people on Fiverr that you can start to hire at a super affordable rate to start doing some VA work for you. And that’s the easiest VA work ever like get into Instagram or Facebook, whatever your issue social platforms are, and then outsource that so that you can legit stop going on there. Then stories.

(06:14):
So stories was kind of the thing hanging over me like, okay, we’re going to post in the feed. That’s fine. The team can schedule those out, done. Couple times a week, you can go comment back to people. I can see messages through my computer, through the Facebook business manager so like, I don’t really care about that. That’s fine.

(06:33):
But, stories. Now for me, and I think for most of you, the people actually looking at your stories, they’re already your follower. They’re already your super fan. So at least for me, like I’m not getting new leads for my stories. It’s just not happening. I’ve had the same 250 people watching my stories like for the past four years. And it’s all my clients, you know, it’s my friends and my clients. And I felt like this desire to constantly be sharing on there.

(07:02):
And like I told you, in a previous episode, I, one morning got up, did my morning routine. Like I always do, and it looked so beautiful. Outside was beautiful. I had my Bible on my lap. My coffee looked so good. I had the foam on the top and like I was in my PJ’s and I was like, this is a photo moment. And I took a photo and I got into Instagram and Instagram has gone. Cause I had deleted it.

(07:23):
So it was kind of like a subconscious thing. And I realized, do I still even want this picture? And the answer was no, like I actually didn’t want that picture. I just wanted that picture to share it on stories, which made me really question. Stories. Why am I posting here? What value is it actually bringing to my business, to my mindset, to the freedom of me that I’m desperately searching for from my phone? None, zero, zilch.

(07:52):
So what I’ve decided to do is get back to using Facebook as my memory keeper, guys. I don’t have any issues with Facebook. So really this takes a little bit of discernment too for you over what platform can be your thing that doesn’t control you. And I really think it’s what can you delete from your phone and use on a computer. Period.

(08:12):
Because it’s going to be such a barrier to entry for you to have to sit down and get your laptop out or go to your office, go to work and get on the computer and log in to something like it’s just a bigger barrier to entry and you start thinking like, do I really want to go on there right now? And I think the answer is often, no, we’re just looking for that instant serotonin kick or that instant gratification, which we need to find in other places, we cannot find those online.

(08:35):
So anyways, with Facebook, I love sharing my legit memories because it saves it. It only shares it with my friends and I love getting Facebook memories. So I’ve decided like anything that’s truly worth saving a true memory that I truly want to post is worthy of photos. Number one. And then number two, it’s a memory that I would want to see next year. Then it’s share-worthy those are the two things.

(09:04):
Number one, maybe you can use these two. Is this a photo that is a memory, something truly worth keeping? Number two, is it something I would want to see a year from now? Facebook says, Hey, here’s your memory? If it’s a yes and a yes, I’ll take those photos and I’ll put them on my personal Facebook page.

(09:24):
Now my personal page is private. I’m not doing that for business. And I don’t think that I need to share my personal life on my business account in order to grow a business. I don’t think that has anything to do with anything. I think that’s why I have my podcast. Cause I’m sitting here talking to you guys, telling you about my personal life.

(09:40):
You know, like Instagram is not a real reflection of anyone’s personal life. It’s a screenshot and snippets of the best moments of your life in order to get a reaction from someone else. And I just feel super slimy about that. I also feel some type of way about me being on there and posting things, knowing that it’s keeping other women, daughters of the king and world changers stuck to their phone too. It’s like I’m perpetuating the problem.

(10:06):
And I had a coaching call the other day and I literally cannot remember who said this to me, but it stuck with me so intensely. And I have to share it with you. She said, I refuse to use the tools of the enemy to build my business. And I was like, oh, like it gut punched me so deep because I absolutely with all of my soul, believe that Instagram and social media at large, anything that causes mass distraction and addiction is a tool from the enemy.

(10:35):
Isn’t that crazy to think like Instagram is literally, I think a tool of the enemy keep you distracted, keep us stuck, keep us in comparison, keep us in jealousy, keep us in want and not enoughness, keep us in I need more, keep us in hustle, keep us in addiction. I can’t with it. You know? So I loved that so much.

(10:59):
And I just sitting with that, like I’m just really sitting with that. It was so good. It was so profound. So I definitely know I can’t perpetuate the problem of other people’s addictions. Now what I can do is just as with anything that I do use it as a business tool that doesn’t take me, my time, my energy, or cut into my boundaries in my life.

(11:24):
So for right now, and this may change, I just want to keep you guys updated. For right now, what that looks like is having the team share our podcast episodes in the feed and we are going to be using relevant hashtags for that. And then, if I have a flash sale or a promotion or something going on with the business that I want to share in stories, I will. I’ve deleted it from my phone, I do not plan to re-install it for any reason.

(11:46):
And then using Facebook, my personal Facebook page, as where I share my life, my personal life, my memories with my children and the Facebook group is the entire 100% connector for me from now on. Now my team also manages that. So I have a lot of freedom in that. Now you may be like, oh, how nice for you, you have a team.

(12:06):
Look, again, a team does not need to be expensive, right? You guys can look for one person who wants to be an intern. There’s so many people, high school kids, college kids. Do you have a niece or nephew or does your friend have a niece or a daughter or son that’s looking for, I don’t know, something super easy. They can do to just learn this space.

(12:27):
There’s easy stuff that you guys can get help with. Social media is the easiest thing to hand off, right? And just from a business perspective, if your team is using your socials purely for business, they’re only in there five minutes a day, they’re posting and they’re getting out. So you’re not perpetuating a problem. You’re helping lead people. Cause that’s where they are. Let’s not get it twisted.

(12:50):
They are sitting on Instagram, they are sitting on Facebook. They are in our podcast apps. But what we don’t want to do is build a business on Instagram. We want to build a business on our podcast and then pull people away from the socials to come hang out with us on our show. Now a Facebook group, yes, this all has gray lines, right? Because the Facebook group is duh on Facebook. However, it’s a community.

(13:18):
And I don’t know about you. I would love to hear from you guys, get in my DMS is Facebook as much of an issue for you as Instagram. And those of you using Tik-Tok. How is that? Like is that more addictive than Instagram? What’s the most addictive platform for you? I would love to know come into into the Facebook group. I’m not checking DMs at the moment, come into our Facebook group bit.ly/successsupportgroup and share with us.

(13:39):
What is your biggest issue? You know, which platform is your biggest issue? We’d love to hear from you. So that is what I am doing at the moment. I’m going to keep you guys updated on that. I’m also going to keep you guys updated on the business. I’ll probably do an update next week or the week after just to let you know, like, is that even impacting anything.

(14:00):
And is us continuing to share stuff on Instagram, even making a difference whatsoever. I will share with you the flash sale that we just wrapped up. I surpassed my goal of sales by 12 sales. And, I went through last night and I wrote a note down next to every sale and I found where that person came from. Here’s the deal. What a super crazy.

(14:30):
Let me find out what this equals right here. 83.7% of the people that bought through the flash sale came from my podcast. How do I know that? Because the podcast drives into the freebies. That’s the only place that they get to my freebie is through my podcast, 84% of people were listening to the show and they came in and got on my email list.

(14:54):
And now how did they get on my email list either through the Facebook group question or by coming into the four steps webinar or the insider club that’s on my website, that’s it. 84% were from the show. Crazy, right? 9.3% were a prior client and then 7% was paid marketing. So insane. So none of these people were from a social platform. Is that not insane? It’s insane to me.

(15:28):
So again, like, they’re fine if you’re gonna use them from like a business perspective and you truly can get out. Oh, here’s the other last thing. Cause I have to go, I have to go to a P2P right now. But the last thing that I want to say to you guys is that I am going to continue doing these big detoxes. I’m talking two or three times a year. I’m going to be totally just deleting apps for a month at a time.

(15:47):
You know, maybe even longer sabbaticals than that, just to like continue to show people that you don’t have to have it. I’m going to continue. I mean, it’s going to be deleted off my phone. Period. Indefinitely is my expectation unless I have to share something on a story, you know.

(16:00):
In the words of my friend, Ellie Conklin, like I refuse to let my phone and social media be an addiction for me, bind me in shackles or have me worshiping an idol. Like I refuse. And I repent for my own behaviors of treating my phone as an idol of treating social as an idol for so many years. But my eyes have been opened. The veil has been lifted and I am done. Like I will not go back there.

(16:27):
And God opens our eyes to things that we must change. It’s our responsibility to maintain that change, maintain that heart shift. And also knowing that like I don’t ever want to go back to that. I didn’t realize that I was shackled by my phone, by social media, by Instagram specifically. And I refuse to ever go back to prison again, prison.

(16:52):
So what God has me do in the next few months or a year, I don’t know. And I’m here for whatever He says. At the moment this is where I sit. So that’s my plan. Anyways, I’d love to hear your feedback. Do you guys like these update episodes?

(17:05):
Let me know if want me to keep doing these. Come share with me. You can email me support@stefaniegass.com. You can put it in the Facebook group. I’d love to hear from you. I’d love to know. I also want to know what other topics you guys want to hear. Hope you have a great weekend. I’ll see you soon. God bless.